Visit these legendary watering holes and step back in time

Since the days when the Founding Fathers gathered in local taverns to hatch a new Republic, Americans have had a love affair with pubs and bars. Many of these watering holes are found in Historic Hotels of America, where movers and shakers have mingled with tradesmen and tourists. Whether you like your history straight up, or with a twist of humor, you won’t be able to resist bellying-up to some of the country's most legendary bars.

The delectable yet distasteful-sounding Aspen Crud was created during Prohibition when the J-Bar in the Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colo., was converted to a soda fountain. Crud was the code word instructing the bartender to add several shots of liquor, usually bourbon, to the rich milkshake.

New Orleans' only revolving bar, the Carousel Piano Bar and Lounge at the Hotel Monteleone has lured guests in from Royal Street to take a spin on the 25-seat, circus-clad merry-go-round. Patrons circumnavigate at one revolution every 15 minutes. This is the only carousel in New Orleans you have to be 21 to ride!

The Silver Dollar Bar opened in The Wort Hotel in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 1950. It boasts a serpentine, mahogany-rimmed bar, inlaid with 2,032 un-circulated 1921 silver dollars.

With a drink menu paying homage to the literary roots of The Algonquin Hotel in New York, and offerings such as the Slush Pile Martini, The Parker and The Vicious Circle, cocktails are served on napkins with Dorothy Parker's quote, "I love a martini-but two at the most. Three, I'm under the table; four, I'm under the host."

Although Kentucky claims being the home of the Mint Julep, The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., makes a case for ownership. The resort's oldest account book dates to 1816 and reveals guests ordering "julips" at a cost of twenty-five cents or three for fifty cents.

Aspen Crud
The J-Bar, Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colo.
1 cup vanilla ice cream
2 tablespoons warm chocolate sauce
1 cup chilled heavy cream
1 shot of bourbon

Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth.

Goody Cocktail
Carousel Piano Bar and Lounge, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans
1 ounce dark rum
1 ounce light rum
1 ounce Orgeat
1 ounce pineapple juice
2 ounces orange juice

Mix well and serve in a tall glass over ice.

For more bar tales and cocktail recipes, click here.

(Source: Historic Hotels)